Children's Home run by Energise Home Limited in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report for children’s home: 2863452 1 Registered provider: Energise Home Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

A private company owns this home. It is registered to provide care for up to 2 children who may have experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

A registered and suitably experienced manager is in post. This was the home’s first inspection since it was registered in May 2026.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home. They moved into the home in April 2026. They spoke with the inspector.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2863452 2

p.1

Summary of findings

The child in this home benefits from warm, nurturing and highly individualised care delivered by a committed and skilled staff team. Planning for children moving into the home is thorough and child-centred, helping children feel welcomed, safe and valued. Strong relationships with family members, consistent therapeutic practice and effective support with education and health contribute to positive progress and improved outcomes. Children are increasingly safe, with significant reductions in missing-from- home incidents and improved emotional regulation. Leaders and managers provide effective, aspirational leadership and promote a culture of learning. Minor shortfalls relating to monitoring alarms, feedback to the child and external scrutiny do not detract from the overall good quality of care.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff in this home have a thorough understanding of the child’s needs. This is because moves into the home are exceptionally well planned. The manager gathers information from multiple sources and ensures that the home’s psychotherapist is involved in planning the move in. The child’s wishes and feelings are thoroughly considered. One professional shared that, ‘The home carefully considered the matching process for [the child] and has taken the time to develop a strong understanding of their needs, experiences, and the reasons behind some of their behaviours.’ This ensured that the child felt welcomed into the home.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff and manager have strong relationships with the child’s family. This supports the child to spend quality time with people who are important to them. Staff organised a family meal at the home for a special occasion. The parent shared that their child, ‘Was proud to show us their home. We now get to spend more time with them in a natural environment. They know we are working with the home as a team’ This promotes the child’s sense of belonging.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is developing warm and trusting relationships with staff. This is because staff use the home’s therapeutic model of care consistently. They have frequent, important conversations and engage the child in a variety of activities. They personalise their care, based on what they are learning about the child. This has helped the child to feel safe and listened to.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is well-supported with their education and consistently attend school. The home ensures that the child has reliable routines and rewards school attendance. This is supporting the child to achieve to their academic potential. Inspection report for children’s home: 2863452 3 The child’s health needs are well met. Staff support the child to engage in various physical activities and to eat a healthy diet. The manager effectively advocates for the child’s health needs. As a result, the child’s health is improving.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well-maintained and welcoming. The child has been supported to personalise their bedroom. They are given regular opportunities to discuss ways in which they would like to make changes to the home, and their views are listened to.

p.3

How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The child in this home has become increasingly safe. Positive behaviour is consistently promoted with use of rewards and appropriate boundaries. The child’s independent reviewing officer shared that ‘[The child] is calmer. It is evident that the strategies that the home have in place to support them daily have been impactful.’ As a result, the child is now able to manage their behaviour and feelings safely.

p.3

How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The child would regularly go missing before living in this home. Since living at the home, child has gone missing on one occasion, for a short period of time. There was missed opportunity to prevent the child going missing. The manager addressed this thoroughly with staff to ensure learning from this incident. This means that the child has not gone missing again.

p.3

How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Restraint is used rarely and only as a last resort. This is because staff have training and clear guidance to effectively support the child when they feel emotionally distressed. Learning from the use of restraint is shared across the team. This supports the child to stay safe.

p.3

How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

When the child raises concerns about staff conduct, this is taken seriously and shared with the appropriate professionals. Robust action is taken to address any concerns and implement any lessons learned. This supports staff to continuously improve the quality of care that they provide. The child is not always provided with feedback about the outcome of their concerns. The manager acted during the inspection to implement a new system, to ensure this is addressed for any future incidents.

p.3

How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The home uses bedroom alarms. These are not reviewed in line with the child’s needs, to ensure that use is proportionate. In addition, the alarm system is in use during the day when this is not in the child’s plans. This has the potential for monitoring to be excessive.

p.3

How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff have made some errors in medication procedures. The manager has taken swift action to address these errors. This has not impacted on the child, who has always received the correct medication in line with their health needs.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a creative, organised and child-centred manager. She is supported by a pro-active responsible individual. The manager has high aspirations for the child and Inspection report for children’s home: 2863452 4 staff. Research-based practice is embedded into the home. This promotes a culture of learning and supports staff to be trauma-informed. One staff member said, ‘I can always go to the manager. She helps me to learn rather than feel ‘targeted’ if I make a mistake’. This supports an open culture.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular, reflective supervision which is focused on children’s needs. The manager uses coaching and single subject supervisions to address specific areas for development. Team meetings are held regularly. They are used effectively to reflect on any lessons learned and to provide staff with research informed approaches. The homes psychotherapist attends each meeting. This supports staff to provide high quality care to children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working in this home. Staff provide universally positive feedback about working in the home and the support from the manager. As a result, the home has a stable staff team and there has been no use of agency staff. This provides the child with consistent care.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works pro-actively with professionals and family members. The child’s parent said, ‘The home is amazing, I cannot praise them highly enough. The home communicate with me very well’. Professionals shared that the manager gives them clear oversight of the child’s progress. This supports effective multi-agency working.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have training to meet children’s specific needs. The manager and other members of the team deliver bespoke training when areas for development are identified. Most staff are qualified and other staff are working towards their qualifications. This ensures that staff have the skills and knowledge required to care for children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager gains regular feedback from children and others. The independent visitor has not sought feedback from staff, family or professionals. This has not been addressed by the manager or responsible individual. This reduces the effectiveness of external scrutiny of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2863452 5

p.4

Recommendations

 Children should be provided with the outcome of any concerns that they raise about staff practice. This should be in line with the homes statement of purpose. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.13)  The use of any monitoring equipment should be regularly reviewed to ensure that it is proportionate. Children should be spoken with regularly to ensure they understand why any monitoring equipment continues to be used. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16)  The registered person should ensure that the independent visitor is supported to seek feedback from staff, professionals and family members to support external scrutiny of the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

p.5

Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2863452 6

p.5

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Energise Home Limited

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Brook Court, Blakeney Road, Beckenham BR3 1HG

p.6

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Laura Richardson

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered manager: Ariana Carreon-Palmer

p.6

Inspector

Jenny Smith, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2863452 7 and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked-after children, safeguarding and child protection.

p.6

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.7

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.7

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.7